LeCoump, Arthur M. "Art," Sr.

1886-1944 | Heating Plant Fireman, Alaska Railroad

A miner from Nevada, Arthur M. "Art" LeCoump, Sr. was born Millsap, Parker County, Texas, on October 16, 1886, the son of John LeCoump and Margaret Jane Ferrell LeCoump.[1] Prior to World War I, LeCoump joined the U.S. Navy and served as a fireman, first class.[2] After his discharge, he was a miner in Nevada.

On January 4, 1916, LeCoump married Agnes Sedy in Ely, White Pine County, Nevada. Sedy was born in Wisconsin in 1891. She was the fourth of nine children of Ignacius “Ignac” and Agnes Sedy, Bohemian immigrants from what is now the Czech Republic. The family immigrated to the United States in 1888 and settled in Bear Lake, Wisconsin, where her father did general farm work.[3] After their marriage, Arthur and Agnes lived in McGill, Nevada, where he worked as a mill man.

Arthur and Agnes LeCoump arrived in Anchorage in 1920. Arthur was employed by the Alaskan Engineering Commission (AEC), the federal agency in charge of construction of the Alaska Railroad, on one of its tunnel driving crews. After the railroad was completed in 1923, he worked the line as a heating plant helper in the heating plant. On April 18, 1944, he retired with twenty years of service with the Alaska Railroad as a heating plant fireman.

Agnes Sedy LeCoump was an ardent gardener and homemaker, and worked at Bagoy's Greenhouse during the summer months. In his spare time, Arthur LeCoump invested in real estate, and built and remodeled many homes and apartments. He owned three houses in Anchorage, having purchased residences at 744 Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and K Street. He built the family home, which was located at 420 K Street.[4] Upon his retirement, he liquidated all of his properties in preparation for relocating to Seattle, Washington.

Arthur LeCoump died on September 4, 1944 in a head-on collision with a loaded truck at Ptarmigan Drop, Mile 33, as he was driving over Thompson Pass to Valdez to ship his Pontiac coupe to Seattle via the Alaska Steamship Company. Agnes LeCoump had preceded him to Seattle and was visiting relatives in Wisconsin when the accident occurred.[5]

Agnes Sedy LeCoump survived her husband, Arthur, by forty-three years. She died in Paradise, California in 1987. She and Arthur are both buried in the Masonic Tract of the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.

Four children were born to Art and Agnes LeCoump. They were survived by Arthur "Art" LeCoump Jr. (1918-1997) and Robert LeCoump (1921-1997). Arthur LeCoump Sr. and Agnes LeCoump had two other children, one dying at birth and the other surviving for only six months.